We said good-night to the ladwho had honestly tried
to do so much for us. Young, Peake,Scott-Higgins and the baggage
arrived.
There were only forty horsemen inDeraa, none in
Amman: also, as yet the Turks had no news of us.
My camel swung to a spatter of machine-gun bullets.
His subalterns, he said, wereloyal Turks, and some of the non-commissioned officers.
Some of the white-legged fellows told us that the Turks held it inforce. Nasir stood
and laughed at us: and later we journeyed together to thefort, to rest midday there.
Thiswould be a generous reading of Allenbys three men and a boy withpistols.
Curiously enough it wasthe first time I had been hit from the air. I turned to go
back to the troops, and at that moment twothings happened.
We traced their progress by thedegradation of the
telegraph.
They were not verygood, but at the second try did
it some hurt.
Joyce meanwhile shouldered the responsibility which
my defectionendangered.
His sanguineface beamed with joy at our
long-hoped-for arrival. This was the side of quickest reinforcement for Deraa, and
itsdeath made our rear safe. My camel swung to a spatter of machine-gun
bullets.
I rushed down, to findPeakes Egyptians making
breakfast.
A week, two weeks,three, and I would insist upon
relief. The horsemenwere sheikhs, or sheikhs servants, men of substance, under
control. Druses andtown-Syrians, Isawiyeh and Hawarneh swelled the company. We
mightcapture this before attacking the great bridge below Tell el
Shehab.
So when things were at their thickest with us he
suddenly sailed intothe circus. I wanted the whole line destroyed in a moment: but
things seemed tohave stopped.
One hopeful blew inthe safe and found postage
stamps inside.
We mightcapture this before attacking the great
bridge below Tell el Shehab. The horsemenwere sheikhs, or sheikhs servants, men of
substance, under control. Soour tiny Air Force was reduced to the B.
At last he said there was just one chance.